SAWS Downtown Sanitary Sewer Maintenance Nears Final Phases

San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) downtown sewer infrastructure cleaning efforts are almost 70 percent complete. Crews have completed Phases 1 – 3 and 6, putting them a week ahead of the original schedule. Crews will suspend work Feb. 13-15 to allow traffic flow for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention, which is expected to attract more than 23,000 attendees.

Sunday, Feb. 16 through the morning of Monday, Feb. 17, Alamo St. between Commerce and Market streets will be closed in both directions for Phase 4 of the project. During the closure, northbound traffic on Market St. will be detoured to Bowie St. and southbound traffic on Commerce St. will be detoured to Presa St. On Monday, Feb. 17, the southbound lane of Alamo will open and the northbound lane will remain closed as depicted on the map until completion of Phase 4.

Six phases of work are scheduled as follows:

Phase 1: Feb.1-3, Commerce and Alamo Streets (Complete)

Phase 2: Feb. 3-5, Commerce, Alamo and Losoya Streets (Complete)

Phase 3: Feb. 5-6, Alamo St. (Complete)

Phase 6: Feb. 6-12, Commerce St. (Complete)

Feb. 13 – 15: Break for Downtown Convention (In progress)

Phase 4: Feb. 16-21, Alamo St.

Phase 5: Feb. 21-27, Alamo St.

While the work on the downtown sewer lines will cause traffic delays, businesses and residents in the area can be assured that the sewer lines they depend on have been inspected and cleaned reducing the likelihood of sewage backups and spills. SAWS is under a consent decree with the EPA that mandates the inspection and cleaning of sewer lines in areas around the city.

Since 1992, San Antonio Water System has been a leader in innovative water management strategies, making San Antonio water’s most resourceful city. Water and wastewater services are provided to more than one million consumers in the San Antonio region. For more information, visit saws.org.